Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon is by far my favorite place we have been so far.  It is the most unique and beautiful place I have ever seen.  And Utah is a gorgeous state!  We did so many fun and interesting things here so I apologize in advance for the long blog post.

Our favorite activity was the trail rides!

Our guide, Shawn was awesome!  He stayed very close to Jesse since he was the smallest in the group and probably looked the most nervous.  The guide stopped and pointed out interesting places to us and told us a lot of history about Bryce.  He also told a lot of jokes.  At one point he stopped and got off his horse and lined us all up for a family picture.  He was the best guide we could have asked for!

Jake did great!  His mule tried to go her own way a few times and he was able to get her back on track.  One time she rode him so close to the cliff and then turned around to start going back down into the canyon.  I was so nervous watching that, but I was so proud of Jake.  He didn’t panic or anything, he just patiently guided her back in the right direction.

They had a photographer waiting for us to get to this point so we could each get in a picture which was nice since I’m usually taking the pictures.

One of our friends said Chris looks like someone from the movie City Slickers in the picture below. 🙂

Just before the trail ride we saw our first rattlesnake in the wild.  We wouldn’t have even seen it if someone else hadn’t pointed it out to us.  The scary thing is we just walked right by that spot and didn’t even see it.  It’s amazing how easily they can blend into the background.

We completed the “I Hiked the Hoodoos” challenge for the boys’ Junior Ranger books by finding the benchmarks below on our hikes.  At each benchmark the boys could get a pencil rubbing of the benchmark to prove we went there.  My favorite hike was to Queens Garden.

We found the queen, see her?

The next hike was the Navajo Loop.  After finding Queens Garden you can continue onto this trail.

Another activity the boys had to do to earn their badge was to pick up trash on our hikes.  They’re such good little Junior Rangers!

That was enough hiking for one day.  The next day we went back and did the hike to the Tower Bridge.

A little window in the wall.

View from the other side.  I spy a Jesse.

We found the Tower Bridge!

One evening we drove out to Rainbow Point to see some other scenic viewpoints.  The Natural Bridge was really amazing.

And another day we drove to Fairyland Point.  This park has so many beautiful vistas!

The next weekend we did some more hiking at Red Canyon which is just 10 minutes from Bryce Canyon.

This tunnel is at Red Canyon on the way to Bryce Canyon.  We had to drive our RV under it on the way to Bryce and we got nervous about our height.  We pulled over and measured to make sure we could fit under it.

And then we went to Mossy Cave back at Bryce where we were so excited to find a beautiful waterfall.  Being out west it has been so dry and it’s unusual to see running water.

We attended an evening ranger program on astronomy.  The night skies are really dark since there are no big cities nearby so you can see so many stars.  After the astronomy program they had big telescopes set up outside and we were able to see Saturn with its rings.  We also saw some shooting stars in the sky that night because there was a meteor shower that week.

After attending the ranger program, completing their trash pickup and hiking the hoodoos, the boys were able to get their Junior Ranger badges.

We stayed at Ruby’s Inn RV Park just outside of the national park.  There is a free shuttle bus that will take you from the campground into Bryce.  Ruby’s Inn seems to have a monopoly in that town, I think they must own everything in the area.  The campground is not cheap, but it was the closest and easiest way to spend so much time at Bryce.  The campground is very nice and the campsites are the largest we have ever seen.  They have a pool that was very crowded most of the time so the kids only used it once.  There is also an indoor pool at the Inn that you can use if  you’re staying at the campground.  There is a grocery store, a couple of restaurants and some other shops there also.  Of course everything is overpriced so if you plan on staying there, make sure you stock up on groceries before you get there.  Ruby’s Inn is very cute though and they have some cute picture-taking opportunities in front of the shops.

Bryce Canyon is definitely a place I would love to come back to see again someday.